It was only a matter of time before Angel Hernandez gave baseball fans another reason to hate the man’s guts. The most recent incident occurred on Friday, May 24 as the Chicago White Sox hosted the Miami Marlins in what should have been a relatively easy game for the South Siders. It wasn’t. The Marlins had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning which the White Sox knotted in the bottom of the fifth. The Sox again scored in the bottom of the sixth and then gave up the tying run in the top of the seventh courtesy of a Miguel Olivo sacrifice fly. With the score still tied going into extra innings, the White Sox loaded the bases with one out for Alex Rios. With a ball and two strikes in his favor, Chad Qualls fired a 96 MPH fastball down the pike. Rios made contact with the bottom of the barrel and dribbled a shot to a waiting Adeiny Hechavarria who started the 6-4-3 double play… however, Rios’s grounder was moving slow enough for him to beat out the throw to first base by a half-a-step which would have inevitably won the ball game for the Sox. Unfortunately for the Sox, Hernandez had umpiring duties at first base and promptly called Rios out. What soon followed on the WGN broadcast were four of the most emphatic “NO!” shouts I’ve ever heard uttered from the mouth of play-by-play voice man Hawk Harrelson. Now, I’m not usually one to side with Harrelson, especially considering the fact that he is the biggest homer in the game; however, as the replay showed over and over and over again, Rios definitely beat the throw which should have resulted in a 4-3 victory. Fortunately for the White Sox they loaded the bases again in the bottom of the 11th inning and got a walk-off single out of Jeff Keppinger.

While some can easily say that what happened in the 10th inning doesn’t really matter as the end results more than made up for it, I simply don’t buy it. The White Sox, realistically, lucked out. Who’s to say that the Marlins couldn’t have piled on a boat load of runs in the top of the 11th? Okay, maybe not piled them on, this is the Marlins we’re talking about, but even just one run could have produced a different outcome; and at the end of it all, every sports news organization would have been right back on the Angel Hernandez backlash story.

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two weeks since everyone in the baseball community, with the exception of the people who run Major League Baseball, collectively jumped on the “Fire Angel Hernandez” bandwagon after he became the first umpire to not overturn an Adam Rosales double in favor of a home run despite being provided clear evidence in the Oakland Athletics 3-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians on May 8. Despite having the advantage of seeing the ball clank the guard rail above the yellow line in left-centerfield as many times as the coaches, players, fans sitting in the stadium and we were able to see at home, somehow Hernandez didn’t see “conclusive enough” evidence to overturn it. Even after the game concluded and Hernandez got called out about it, he still stuck to his guns. The unfortunate rule that favored Hernandez in that particular situation is that instant replay evidence cannot be argued or overturned by a manager or the greater powers of MLB. It is simply the responsibility of the crew chief to make the judgment call and he cannot be penalized even if it is the wrong call.

The following day another umpire-related mishap took place in Houston as the Astros hosted the Los Angeles Angels. With two outs in the seventh inning Astros’ manager Bo Porter called to his bullpen for left-handed pitcher Wesley Wright. Upon seeing the move Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia opted to bring in a righty to pinch hit. Porter then one-upped Scioscia and called to his bullpen again and brought in right-handed pitcher Hector Ambriz. Scioscia, knowing the rules, complained to the umpires about the illegal move. Crew chief Fieldin Culbreth allowed the change, which forced Scioscia to call a protest for the rest of the game. Ambriz then went on to get lit up for three runs and the loss; however, like the White Sox game above, this shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Due to the fact that Culbreth clearly violated the rules he was promptly suspended for two games. As hard as it is to swallow, and as much as we all know how poor of an official Hernandez is, and especially when you tack on the amount of players and managers who have said that Hernandez is one of the worst umpires in the game, he has yet to do anything to warrant a suspension. All of his calls, as questionable as they may be are merely calls of judgment based on hindsight. If I haven’t stressed this point enough; the second that Hernandez violates any of the actual rules put in place by MLB he will then be on the chopping block for suspension. Until then, Hernandez will continue to be the bane of existence for every player, manager and fan who takes part in his own style of umpiring. Sorry.

One thing that I will leave you all with which you might find interesting; since instant replay became a part of the game back on August 28, 2008 there has been a total of 326 reviews as of May 24, 2013. Of all 326 of those reviews Hernandez has only been the crew chief three of those times, and in only one of those three cases has actually overturned a call. His other two calls both took place in 2012, occurring on July 17th and September 11th, both of which resulted in home runs. The one on September 11th is especially ironic as a Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre hit a ball which ricocheted off a guard rail and back onto the field. The play was reviewed and overturned into a home run for Beltre.